Fireplace heater attachment



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W. R. DOBBINS FIREPLACE HEATER ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 51, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W/LL 50w (Ittorneg Mm I?!" fl' w. R. DOBBINS FIREPLACE HEATERATTACHMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 31, 1954 Knnentor,

Gttorneg Patented June 9, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE FIREPLACEHEATER ATTAonMEN V Willie R. Dobbins, Bostonia, Calif. ApplicationJanuary 31, 1934, Serial No. 709,108

-- ,8 Claims. (01.126-121) My invention relates to fireplace'heater attachments, and the objectsof my invention are: First, to provide aheater whichis particularly designed to fit fireplaces, utilizing theinsulation afforded by the brickwork of the; fireplace as well as thechimney provided therein; p

Second, to provide a heater attachment in which the stack loss isreducedto a minimum thereby ensuring high efficiency;

Third, to provide aheaterattachment which may be designed to burn anystandard fuel but is particularly suitable for the burning of crude oilor fuel oil; 4

Fourth, to provide a heater attachment which it incorporates a novelmeans of pre-heatingthe stack so as to quickly produce alstrong draftthereby reducing or eliminating any tendency for the heater to smoke;

Fifth, to provide 'a heater attachment wherein the heated air does notcome. in contact with the burning gases so that the air is heated witout contamination, and

Sixth, to provide on the whole a novelly constructed fireplace heaterattachment which is compact proportional to its capacity, durable, ef-

ficient in its action, and Whichwill not readily deteriorate or get outof order.

With these and other objects in view as will appear hereinafter, myinvention consists of certain novel features of construction,combination and arrangement of partsand portions as will be hereinafterdescribed indetail and particularly set forth in the appended claims,reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to thecharacters-of reference "thereon which form a part of this applicatiominwhich:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the fireplace heater attachment; Fig.21s a sectional view thereof substantially through 2-2"of Fig. '1,delineating the fireplace inoutlinaand parts and portions of theattachment broken away to facilitate the illustration; Fig. 3 is apartial sectional partial plan view thereof taken through 3--3 of Fig.4; Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken through 4-5 of Fig; 2,showing the fireplace in outline; and Fig. 5 is 'a similar sectionalview taken through 5 -5 of Fig. 2, with the fireplace and casing of theheater'attachment omitted. i

Similar characters of reference refer to simi lar parts and portionsthroughout the several views of the drawings;

Casing I, cover plate .2, burner compartment 3, 55 burner unit 4, stovemeans 5, and stack 6 constitute the principal parts and portions of mynovel fireplace heater attachment.

The heater attachment is mounted in a casing I which conforms generallyto the fireplace, that is the casing is provided with vertical end walls5 la, a front and back wall lbwhich curves in conformity with thefireplace, and a base I c. The forward or outer side of the casing isclosed by a cover plate 2 at the lower side of which are provided airintake gratingsZa and at the upper 10 side of which are mounted airoutlet gratings 2b. One of the air intake gratings 2a is mounted on adoor 20 to provide access to the burner unit as will be brought outhereinafter. The end walls la, and front and back wall lb of the casl5ing, are preferably insulated.

Within the casing in registry with the door 20 is a burner compartment 3which is rectangular and open at its forward side. Track members 3a areprovided in the burner compartment from which is suspended a burner unit4 of any suitable design but preferably an oil burner. The upper wall ofthe compartment 3 is provided with an opening 31) therein.

A stove means 5 is mounted within the casing I. Said stove means isgenerally in the form of an inverted U with one leg shorter than theother so as to rest on top of the burner compartment and the other legrest on the bottom of the casing I. The shorter leg, designated 5a., iscircular in section and is joined to the cross portion, designated 5b,which is semi-circular with its flat side facing downwardly. The crossportion 51) in turn joins the remaining leg, designated 5c. The leg 50is provided with a substan- 35 tially centered partition 5d beginning ata point flush with the under side of the cross portion 517 and extendingto a point adjacent but spaced from the bottom end of the leg 50. Saidend of the stove means is closed, as indicated by 5e. The upper end ofthe partition 5d joins a horizontally extending wall, designated 5 whichis integral with the under side of the cross portion 5b and which closesthe half of the leg facing the leg 5a. Said wall 5) is intersected by astack 5 6 which projects upwardly through the cross portion 5!) and intothe chimney of the fireplace.

The above described portions of the stove means define a curved passagecomprising an upwardly directed portion, designated A, a hori- 50zontally directed portion, designated B, a downwardly directed portion,designated C, then an upwardly directed portion, designated D, whichcommunicates with the stack 6. It will be here noted that the stovemeans 5 is arranged and positioned so that its heating elements are inthe front portion of the fireplace, thus providing eflicient heatradiation from the front. The arrangement of the stove means enables thestack 6 to be located towards the center of the casing I so that thestack may communicate with the chimney of the fireplace. Thisarrangement has a further importance for upon igniting the burner 4 theheated gases strike against the portion of the stack designated 60.which traverses the passage B formed by the cross portion 512. Thisheats the column of air in the stack 6 and sets up a draft which aidscombustion in the burner 4 and quickly brings the heater to itsoperating condition. Once the burner is in operation the gases, by thetime they reach the smoke stack, are sufiiciently cooled that theyprevent overheating of this member by the hot gases passing through thepassage B, thereby reducing the likelihood of burning out the stackportion 6a.

Though I have shown and described a particular construction, combinationand arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited tothis particular construction, combination and arrangement, but desire toinclude in the scope of my invention the construction, combination andarrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a fireplace heater attachment, the combination with a fireplace ofa stove structure mounted with its front side adjacent the front side ofsaid fireplace comprising, an upwardly directed portion, a singlelaterally directed portion, a single downwardly directed portion and asecond upwardly directed portion, all of said portions arrangedsequentially in the order named to define a single continuous fiue withits longitudinal axis substantially parallel with the front of thefireplace, the second upwardly directed portion being disposed betweenthe first upwardly directed portion and the downwardly directed portion,a stack joining the second upwardly directed portion and extendingupwardly beyond the stove structure into the chimney of said fireplaceand extending upwardly beyond the stove structure between the endsthereof as defined by the first upwardly directed portion and thedownwardly directed portion, and a burner means below the first upwardlydirected portion.

2. In a fireplace heater attachment, the combination with a fireplace ofa stove structure mounted with its front side adjacent the front side ofsaid fireplace comprising an inverted U-shaped continuous single passageportion with the longitudinal axis of said passage portion substantiallyparallel with the front face of the fireplace, and a terminal portionextending upwardly from the extremity of one leg of the U-shaped portionand disposed between the legs of said U-shaped portion, a burner at thelower extremity of the other leg, and a stack extending upwardly fromsaid terminal portion through the substantially horizontal portion ofsaid U-shaped portion into the chimney of said fireplace.

3. In a fireplace heater attachment, the combination with a fireplace ofa stove structure mounted with its front side adjacent the front side ofsaid fireplace including a single circular upwardly directed portion, asingle semi-circular laterally directed portion, a single semi-circulardownwardly directed portion, and a second semicircular upwardly directedportion, all of said portions arranged sequentially in the order namedto define a single continuous fiue with its longitudinal axissubstantially parallel with the front of said fireplace, the lastupwardly directed portion being disposed between the first upwardlydirected portion and the downwardly directed portion, a stack joiningthe second upwardly directed portion and extending directly upwardlybeyond the stove structure between the ends thereof as defined by thefirst upwardly directed portion and the downwardly directed portion andits upper end extending into the chimney of said fireplace, a burnermeans below the first upwardly directed portion, and a casing fittingaround the stove structure but spaced therefrom, said casing having coldair inlets at its lower portion and hot air outlets at its upper portionand forming the front face of the fireplace.

4. In a fireplace heater attachment, the combination with a fireplace ofa stove structure mounted with its front side adjacent the front side ofsaid fireplace including an inverted U-shaped continuous single passageportion with its longitudinal axis substantially parallel with the frontof the fireplace, and a terminal portion extending upwardly from theextremity of one leg of the U-shaped portion and disposed between thelegs of said U-shaped portion, a burner at the extremity of the otherleg, a stack extending from midway between the front and back sides ofthe upper end of said terminal portion, and a casing fitting around thestove structure but spaced therefrom, said casing having cold air inletsat its lower portion and hot air outlets at its upper portion andcovering the front face of thefireplace.

5. In a fireplace heater attachment, the combination with a fireplace ofa heating chamber structure mounted with its front side adjacent thefront side of said fireplace in the form of a continuous single passageinverted U with its longitudinal axis arranged substantially parallelwith the front of the fireplace and with one leg having a portiondoubled back and disposed between the other portion of said leg and theother leg of the chamber, a burner element mounted below said other legfor directing heated and burnt gases into said chamber, and a stackextending directly upwardly from midway between the front and back sidesof the doubled end of the first mentioned leg through and beyond thechamber whereby the chamber surrounds a portion of the stack toinitially heat the same.

6. In a fireplace heater attachment, the combination with a fireplace ofa stove structure mounted with its front side adjacent the front side ofsaid fireplace including an upwardly directed cylindrical portion, asingle laterally directed semi-cylindrical portion, a single downwardlydirected semi-cylindrical portion, and a second single upwardly directedsemi-cylindrical portion, all of said portions arranged sequentially inthe order named to define a flue and all positioned in alinement witheach other in the front portion of said fireplace, the second upwardlydirected portion being disposed between the first upwardly directedportion and the downwardly directed portion, a burner means below thefirst upwardly directed portion, and a single vertical stack ofcontracted size continuing directly upwardly from the second upwardlydirected portion through the laterally directed portion, whereby theheated gases in said laterally directed portion initially heat thestack.

'7. In a fireplace heater attachment, the combination with a fireplaceof a stove structure mounted with its front side adjacent the front sideof said fireplace including a pair of upright cylindrical portions withtheir vertical axes alined with each other and substantially parallelwith the front side of said fireplace, a burner element disposed belowone of said cylinder portions, a vertical partition dividing the othercylinder and terminating above its bottom portion, and a conduitconnecting the first cylinder with the remote or outside portion of theother cylinder, and a stack extending from the adjacent or insideportion of said other cylinder through the conduit, whereby heated gasespassing therealong initially heat the stack.

8. In a fireplace heater attachment, the combination with a fireplace ofa stove structure mounted with its front side adjacent the front side ofsaid fireplace including a pair of upright cylinder portions, a burnerelement disposed below one of said cylinder portions, a verticalpartition dividing the other cylinder and terminating above its bottomportion, and a substantially horizontal conduit connecting the firstcylinder with the remote or outside portion of the other cylinder andthe whole positioned in alinement with the front side of said fireplace,a stack extending from the adjacent or inside portion of the othercylinder, and a casing fitting around the stove structure but spacedtherefrom, said casinghaving cold air inlets at its lower portion andhot air outlets at its upper portion and forming the front face of thefireplace and enclosing the same.

WILLIE R. DOBBINS.

